Saturday, February 25, 2017

If you are doing any work on a 1989-1994 Nissan Skyline GT-R, then this Nissan Service Manual in English should be your Bible. Tons of information on the systems in the car. Most of the information will also work to help you out with the 1995-1998 R33 GT-R, and the 1999-2002 R34 GT-R.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Now this is minor, but it is a real thing. Sorry if it doesn't interest you. This is like big time GT-R Nerd stuff. Patrick pointed it out to me one day, as I never noticed.

R32 key on the left. R33 key on the right

Notice the difference? The GT on the R32 key is recessed. On the R33 key it is raised. The OEM R32 key is a KEY00-00108. The R33 key is a KEY00-00185. The R33 key is available though normal channels - like here -

Same question, asked two different ways. What fluid for your Nissan Skyline GT-R Gearbox. There are two main boxes, stock FS5R30A 5 speed, and the V160 Getrag 6 speed(uses a unique fluid).

For a heavily loaded transmission like the FS5R30A, the ONLY fluid we recommend, after 18 years of working on Nissan Skyline GT-R, is Redline Shockproof Heavy Gearoil.

Here is the reason.

3rd gear sheared on a FS5R30A transmission. These are early and late transmission.

An all wheel drive car puts loads into transmissions, that a rear wheel drive car will just never see. These gears are expected to transmit the power from the engine to the ground. In a rear wheel drive car you will always have some slippage, which is much less in an all wheel drive car.

Redline does not recommend Shockproof Heavy in a synchro trans due to its extreme slipperiness.

Not recommended for most synchro applications due to the product's extreme slipperiness

Here is a truth though. If you don't run it in a FS5R30A, your transmission gears (3rd gear) won't last long enough to care what happens to your synchros. About 90% of the people we talk to with synchro issues, once they put some Shockproof Heavy in the trans, the problems go away. While this may be masking the issue, the reality is again, the gears in the trans will not outlast the synchros when run hard. If you sit in a parking lot with the hood open, in a lawn chair, then run whatever fluid your "boy" recommends. However if you bang gears in a Nissan Skyline GT-R with any amount of power, Shockproof is the absolute best thing you can do to ensure a longer life for third gear.

Fs5R30A Transmission in a Nissan Skyline GT-R. Third gear is the 2nd gear from the top. Notice the mismatch of the two gears.

We first came across Redline Shockproof Heavy Gearoil after breaking two 3rd gears in a 500hp R32 GT-R in a week. While at Nissan North America, while they were still in Gardena, we spoke to Frank Honsowetz casually about our issue. He mentioned in the Nissan race trucks, they used to break transmissions all the time over the jumps. Once they put Shockproof Heavy in the transmissions their failure rate went way down.

So we tried it. Once we started using it, our transmission failures decreased greatly. Not two in a week anymore. We still broke some transmissions, but the rate was much lower.

Onto years later, racing a front wheel drive car. We would break a trans every couple months of "normal" track use. More often depending on who was driving. In that car, we swapped out to Shockproof Heavy, and in a year of SCCA Pro racing, only broke one transmission, in two cars, in a thirteen race season. While doing differential testing, the differential company asked us to use their fluid. First time out, we popped the transmission. Switched the fluid back to Shockproof Heavy, and no further failures.

Any car that I run hard now, If I can use a gear oil in the transmission, the ONLY thing I will use is Shockproof. Any other fluid is setting myself up for failure. If I break it with Shockproof in it, then I need to have a look at those failures and fix them, before filling it up with Shockproof again.

Saturday, February 18, 2017

When we planned to race a Nissan Skyline GT-R in SCCA World Challenge GT back in 2006, we got a good amount of spares with the two cars. Taking apart the RB26dett engines, we learned some things. The NISMO built, Super Taikyu versions of the RB26 were a little bit special. At about $19,000 each, they came dynoed, with turbos, MAF, and ECU. Power was just a little north of 450 horsepower at the engine at about 1.1 kg/cm2 boost.

These pictures are about 11-12 years old now. So nothing new or break through here. However we would like to show how NISMO does some things on the RB26. These are a few of the interesting things. Stay tuned for more later. Someone sent us some pictures of the JGTC RB26, and those things are really interesting.

We own this car. Saw it up for sale, and had to have it. One of our friends had it, and we ended up winning the bid on eBay. It is a 240SX convertible, a S13. KA24DE powered with R32 GT-R look on the front and rear. The car looks pretty funny parked next to our real R32 GT-R. We had some repair parts for it, as it looks good from far, but far from good, however the parts were destroyed in the fire we had last year. Front bumper, corner lights, and some interior bits. Plus some engine parts to put it back to near stock.

Some people have suggested RB swapping it, but where would be the fun in that? Its better to have this convertible LHD thing with the KA4LYF.

A couple of the NISMO parts that I have on my NISMO R32 GT-R. These were not stock parts, rather aftermarket parts. The old style squared off and triangle logo was used on the NISMO R32, and the 400R.

Old logo NISMO floor mats

NISMO steering wheel

NISMO dead pedal

NISMO seat vs normal seat

"NISMO, a short form of "Nissan Motorsports," is the performance brand for Nissan, and is one of the company's purveyors of innovation and excitement. NISMO offers products featuring innovative technology and high performance to a wide range of customers for street use. NISMO cars provide exciting driving experiences with motorsports-inspired aerodynamics and styling, enhanced handling characteristics and unmatched agility."http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/channels/us-united-states-nissan-company-logos/photos/nismo-logo

Tuesday, February 07, 2017

Here is a list of the paint codes, and some picture examples of each, that I could dig up. Here are the color codes for the R32, R33, R34, and R35 GT-R. These include the special colors, and even the most frequently requested like Bayside Blue- TV2.

Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Mr. Kamil Nieznany asked the question about how many MotoRex R33 existed, here is the most complete answer we can come up with.
For the first time, we actually went though our lists of chassis numbers and counted how many Nissan Skylines, and Skyline GT-R's were imported and federalized by MotoRex. These two lists, while mostly complete are missing a few cars- probably around 20. We have 102 chassis numbers on our two lists.

The most popular car during MotoRex's time was the R33 GT-R. The R33's were produced from 1995 to 1998, with an early, middle, and late configuration. We show 57 R33, all models, with the majority being GT-R. The actual number is probably around 65-70 including a couple cars from G&K, JK, and US Specs.

That leaves the R34 Nissan Skyline GTR, which was produced 1999 to 2002. There were 11 R34 GT-R federalized by MotoRex according to our lists. Although we know of at least one more car not on this list with a bond release.

R32 ~34 carsR33 ~57 carsR34 ~11 cars
Total of about 102, although we have heard the actual number was about 120 cars.